Rail-joint.



I. E. ETHERTON.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION 11.21) AUG. 5, 1913.

1,1 14,453. Patented 001;. 20, 1911 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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RAIL JOINT. APPLIUATIbN FILED AUG. 5, 1913. 1,1 14,453, Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

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RAIL-JOINT;

Specification of Letters Patent. 7 I Pat t d O t, 20, 1914,

Seria1No.783,113. M

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, Jnssn E. ETHERTON, a

citizen of the United State, residing'at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of} Illinois, have invented new and useful Im-, provements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification. The present invention relates to improvements in rail joints, the object'being to so construct and arrange the meeting ends'of two'rails as to provide an interlocking connection between the said rails, and the im-- provement resides in the constructiongcoinbinationand arrangement of parts set forth in the following specifications and falling Within the scope of the appended claims;

In the-drawings: Figure l'is a side ele-e vation of'a rail joint constructed inaccordance with the present invention, Fig. 2 is a' top plan view of the same, Fig. 3 is a sec tional view on the line 33 of Fig; 1, Fig.

dis a sectional view on the'line 4 4 of Fig. 2, 'Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line"5 5; of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 isa detail perspective view of one of the rail ends, Fig. 7 is a similar sectional view of the coacting rail end, and Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the manner of forming the joint between the rails. I

The rails RR are'of the ordinary-construction. The head of the rail R terminates in an inclined wall l which is arranged in a plane with the inclined upper portion of the web of the rail, or that portion which terminates with'the head and which is indicated by the numeral 2. The head at its end is formed with a dove-tailed slotor opening 3, the said opening being extended to the inclined end of the upper portion 2 V of the web of the rail, as indicated by the tinuous passage,

numeral 4:, and the said portion is reduced and is not dove-tailed, so that the slots or depressions 3 and 4, while forming a con-Y gradually vary in width from the end thereof provided in the web of the rail to the head of the rail. The head of the rail, directly to the rear of its dovetailed slot or depression 3 is formed with? a downwardly and forwardly inclined opening 4-, the said opening passing'through i the depression 3, so that when a straight element is inserted within the portion 5 of the depression 3, the endof said element'will project beyond the inclined end 20f the upper portion of the web, or the frontthereof, The inclined end 2 has its lower portion rounded at 6, and is continued herizellt ly "Application filed August 5, 1913. l

" pression 8; The

the lower straighaas at -7,"for a suitable distance,

the said edge 7 being disposed approximately central of the web proper, andiscentrally provided with a longitudinally extendinggroove 8. The'horizontally straight wall 7 Lter1ninates with the upwardly extendingedge 90f a hook 10, thesaid hook being formed by the web of'the rail and its uppermost portion is disposed asuitable distance below the plane of the underface of the head of the rail R. The "hook 10 is approximatelyone-half of its Jlengthformed with a gro'oveor depression 11 which is arranged upon'the upper edge 9 of the said hook and which communicates with the groove'or depoint or nib of the hook,

Which'is designatedby the numeral 12, is

disposed belowthe plane of the horizontally extending-portion or edge 7 of the web, and face of the hook is continued in a rounded wall 13 from its nib toits juncture with the base flange of the rail.

base flange has its ends to the opposite sides of its hook provided with dove-tailed slots lland 15 respectively. I 1 I i Therail R has its base flange at its end, and to the opposite sides of its web formed with dove-tailed Projections wand 17 respectively which are adapted to be received within the dove-tailed slots "or depressions 14 "and 15 of the rail B when the rail ends are assembled, and the web of the said rail has its lower portion formed with an up wardly curved member 18 which is adapted to agree with the curved portion 13 of the Thebase flange term nates in a plane with" the terminal of the rounded iwall'13, and the said 30 t hook l0 and the said curved portion is con- 1 tin'ued rearwardly in the 'web and abuts with the upper wall or edge 9 of the hook 10 as well as with its nib 12. The wall or edge -19 terminates in a horizontally straight edge 20 which is shaped to agree with the hori zontally straight portion 7 of the rail B, and

the said-edgej2O terminates in a rounded corn'er. 21 from which theweb is, extended at an angle, as indicated by thenumeral 22,. which agrees with the angular portion 2 of the rail R,-and;also agrees with the'in- The inclined head is centrally formed with 1 an enlargement in the form of a knob des--; 'ignated by'the reference character 24 and; p 110' has its front face gradually decreasing 'as designatedby the character 25, said enlargement or knob being formed uponthe meet- 'cline'd end 23 of the head of the rail R.

ing face of the web extension of the rail R and further the said web extension is provided with an orifice 26' at a point directly below the knob or enlargement 24. The edge 20, as well as a portion of the curved edge 19 is formed with a rib 26, the said rib being shaped to be received within the depressions S and 7 of the rail R. The rib 2G is preferably V-shaped in crOsssection. In assembling the rail R has its end arranged at an angle tothat of the rail R to bring the edge of its rounded portion 18 into contact with the rounded portion13 of the rail It. When in such position, the

2 edge 13 serves as a fulcrum point for the rounded edge 18,, so that the head and extending web of the rail B may be swung over the hook 10, and horizontally straight' edge 7 as well asthe beveled ends of the head and web into engagementflwith the beveled end 1 of the rail Rand the beveled, or, inclined transverse wall 2 of the rail B; This 'movement of the railsalso forces the enlargement or knob 24 as well as rib 26 i I and the dove-tailed; extension ,16 and 17 into engagement with the recesses and grooves provlded for their reception. Then the rails are assembled, a securing "element,

in the nature of a threaded member 27, may bepassed through the opening in the head ofthe rail R to bring its threaded shank into engagement with the orifice 26 of the web extension of the rail R", it being understood that the member 27 is either headless or has its head disposed in a countersunk depression provided in the upper face of the head of the rail RR,- and also that the threaded member 27 has its end provided with the usual slot for the reception of a, screw driver or like instrument for rotating the same. j ,It will be noted that in constructing a joint in accordance with my invention, two

" of. the ordinary rails are employed, and their heads, webs and base flanges are cut to provide the interlocking elements for the joint, and from the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings the simplicity of'the device asjwellgas the advantages thereof will, it isthought, be perfectly apparent to those skilled in the art to. which such inventions appertain without further detailed description. p

I have found it desirable to provide the end of the base flange of the rail B, between the slots l iia'nd 15, with a knob 100 which is substantially in the shape of a key-stone and has its upper wall rounded to its angular sides. I also provide the'end of the base flange ofthe rail It, below the curved member 18' and between the projections 16 and 17, with aidepression or pocket 101 which has its walls shaped to conform with and whichis adapted to snugly receive the,keystone knob 100,, When the rail ends areas sembled.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is? 1. In a rail joint, two rails, one of said rails having a Web extension having its top surface grooved said web being formed to provide a hook, the second rail having a projecting head and web,-the web of the second mentioned rail being cut to receive the projecting endof the hook ofthe first mentioned rail and pro- 1 vided along its bottom surface with a V- shaped rib adapted to be received in the groove of the firstmentioned web, and means for retaining therail ends against lateral or longitudinal movement,

2. In a :rail joint, two rails, one of said rails having .a web extension, said extension formed to provide a hook and having its top surface grooved longitudinally, the said second ra l having a pro ecting head and web,

the web of the second mentioned rail being cut to receive the projecting end of the hook of the first mentioned rail and provided on its bottom surface with a longitudinally disposed V-shaped rib, said rib being adapted to be received in thegroove of the first 1nentionedav'eb, means for retaining the rail ends against lateral or longitudinal movement, and meansextendingthrough the head of the first mentioned rail and adapted to enter an aperture in-the front face of the second web for permanently lo cking the rails together.

3. Inalrail joint,,two rails, one of. said rails having aweb extension whichihas its terminal formed toprovide a hook, the second rail end having a, projecting head and web,,the ,Web of the second mentioned rail being cut to' receive the projecting end of the hook ofthe first mentioned rail, and means comprising interlocking tongues and grooves between the rail endsfor retaining the joint against,- lateral or longltudinal movement,

for a portion of its length, l

said last named means also including a knob or keystone ,configuration formed on the abutting-surfaceof one rail and adapted to beseated' in a depression having its walls shapedto conform with the configuration of the'keystone formed in the other of said rails;

In. a rail joint, two rails, one of said rails having a slotted head and a web extension which has itslend formed to provide a hook,the second rail end having .a projectinghead and a web extension, the web of the second; rail ,being cut-to receive the projecting end of thehook of the first mentioned rail and provided in its free-terminal portion with .an aperture, means integrally formed with the, rail ends for retaining the joints against lateral or longitudinal move ment, and means passing through the head of the first, mentioned rail and extending beyond-the front walls of its slot and adapted to enter an aperture formed in the terminal of the second mentioned Web for permanently retaining the tWO rails interlocked.

5. In a rail joint, two rails, one of said rails having a slotted head portion and a web extension which has its end formed to provide a hook, the second rail end having a projecting head and web, the web of the second rail being out to receive the projecting end of the hook of the first men tioned rail and provided in its free terminal portion with an aperture, means integrally formed with the rail ends for retaining the joint against lateral or longitudinal movement, and adjustable means passing through the head of the first mentioned rail and'extending beyond the vfront walls of its slot and adapted to enter the aperture formed in the terminal of the second mentioned web for permanently retaining the rails interlocked.

6. In a rail joint, two rails, one of said rails having a slotted head portion having an aperture therein and a Web extension Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner, of Patents, o i

which hasits end formed tojprovide a hook, the second ra'il'end having a projecting head and Web, the web of thesecond rail being cut to receive the projecting end of the hook it of the first mentioned rail and provided in its free terminal portion with an aperture, 30

means integrally formed with the rail ends for retaining the joint against lateral or longitudinal movement, and a" threaded member adjustably mounted in the aperture of the head of thefirst mentioned rail and of such length to extend forwardly of the slot, the extended portionof said threaded member adapted to enter the aperture formed in the terminal of the second mentioned web, foripermanently retaining the two rails interlocked.

In testimony WhereofI aifix my signature.

in presence of two Witnesses.

, a JESSE E. ETHERTON.

itnesses FRANK S.-ALLIsoN,

WM. SPSWAIN.

- Washington, D, O. 

